Tigrai Online, June 23, 2012
Fourteen terrorists have been arrested in relationship to the killing of four people in Gambella in April
Fourteen gunmen suspected of killing 24 people in two separate attacks in Gambella, western Ethiopia earlier this year have been arrested, a government spokesman said Friday.
Shimeles Kemal said the terrorists were arrested after the crossed into South Sudan where they had a shout out with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), killing two South Sudanese soldiers.
"There was a fire exchange between SPLA forces and rebels. Two members of South Sudanese forces died and several members of the rebel forces were killed and 14 were arrested," the Ethiopian government spokesman, Shimeles Kemal, said.
In April 2012, armed gunmen entered a Saudi Star rice farm in Gambella and killed five people. The attack came weeks after 19 people were killed on a public bus in the same Ethiopian region.
The terrorists have now been sent back to Ethiopia and they are under investigation, according to Shimeles.
"The criminal investigation has commenced and they will be brought before the court as soon as the investigation is completed," he said.
The gunmen are not known to be affiliated with a particular group, but Shimeles said the criminal investigation may reveal connections with an organised rebel group.
"Whether they have any particular designation to a particular rebel group will be determined in the outcome of the investigation," he said.
